Hi and Welcome

     Hello New Life Baptist and Friends.  I am so happy to join with you today.  I hope that this blog can become a way of communication from me to you.  We have so many ways of connecting with one another these days; why not use what is available to us to the honor and glory of God.

     Let me begin by sharing with you what is on my heart today.  I have been intensely interested in discovering the deeper meaning of things for some time now.  A short time ago I spent about two years reading and studying prayer.

     I have read such people as Madame Jean Guyon, from the 1700s, a member of the Quietest Movement; E.M. Bounds, who spent the last number of years of his life shut up in a house in prayer; and Charles Finney, one of the great revivalists of the 1800s.  It's believed that he won over half a million people to the Lord through his lifetime ministry as a revivalist.

All of these people (and other well known Christians through the ages) had one thing in common - a deep commitment to prayer.  Prayer was at the base of their fame as great men and women of God.  They accomplished things in their lifetimes which went beyond human explanation.  Madame Jean Guyon was blessed with the gift of healing.  Whenever she traveled to a town or village people came to her, and through the power of her prayers, they went away healed of ailments or disabilities.

     Andrew Murray, another revivalist in the 1800s, was used of God to win complete towns and districts to the Lord.  He once was preaching to his congregation and became angry because the entire congregation was not listening to him; but instead, they were praying.  He began to chastise them when an elderly man came up to him and said, "Be careful not to interfere with the mighty hand of God."  Murray immediately repented and revival broke out in that area and it is believed that thousands of people came to the Lord.

     We are about to embark on a journey into the unknown called faith.  Our human nature resists the unknown because it is something that we cannot control.  But every journey with God will have some element of unkown to it, and the only way we can step into it is through the power of prayer.

     There indeed will be obstacles along the way.  Each one should be faced by not trusting in our own strength, but trusting in God through the power of prayer.

     In the year 2011 I believe our journey is two-fold.  1. We will rediscover ourselves in terms of what we are all about as a church.  This will involve defining ourselves through our Core Values, Mission, Vision and Ministry Strategy.  Hopefully you have been able to read Aubrey Malphurs book, "Nuts and Bolts of Ministry".

2. The journey will also involve establishing permanent roots for residency.  We will answer the question: Is St. Christopher's our permanent vantage point for ministry?

     These two tasks are big and requires a commitment from all of us.  However, the load becomes lighter in a number of ways: by everyone sharing the load; by trusting in God; and through the power of prayer.

     May God be with us as we travel the road of faith together.  P.S. Enjoy this beautiful song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqNdQdmUbWU

Blessings,

-Leo